Experts describe depression as leading cause of suicide

"Depression has become a leading cause of suicide whereas communication with each other is the best therapy," said Prof. Dr. Syed Irfan Hyder, Vice Chancellor, Ziauddin University, while speaking at an interactive seminar on Thursday.

The seminar, titled 'Understanding Suicide & Providing Support’, was organized by the Department of Clinical Psychology in collaboration with House of Pebbles with the aim to examine the causes and symptoms of suicide.

"The modern method to show happiness is to publish photographs of vacations, family gatherings, and other exciting events on social media, but nobody can see how much misery you’re actually experiencing," said Dr. Hyder.

"With the help of this workshop, we can all gain from having open discussions about mental health issues and suicide prevention because even one conversation has the power to alter someone’s life," he added.

While addressing the audience, Mariam Motiwala, an associate clinical psychologist, said that in Pakistan reasons for a suicide could be domestic issues, financial problems, refusal to marry someone of own choosing, academic or work pressures while other factors could be mental illnesses and hormonal imbalances.

She said that the aftermath of an attempted suicide could be a feeling of guilt, despair, anxiety, and embarrassment in front of family, friends, and society, making it harder for the survivor to continue living. A suicide attempt could cause broken bones, organ failure, brain damage, and mental illness which could be worse than death, she added.

Azka Hasan, a specialized humanistic therapist, asserted that 1.3 million attempts resulted in 44,975 suicides, while the reasons could be varied as we are surrounded by a judgmental society where family pressure, compatibility, bullying children in schools, and relationship breakup could be the main reason for suicide.

Earlier in her welcoming speech dean of faculty of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, Dr. Shehla Sidiki praised the head of department Sarah Jahangir and "House of Pebbles" for organizing this session.

She said that over 7,000 suicides occur annually, which has a detrimental effect on families, friends, and society.